NuSTAR observations of the magnetar 1E 2259+586

Julia K. Vogel, Romain Hascoët, Victoria M. Kaspi, Hongjun An, Robert Archibald, Andrei M. Beloborodov, Steven E. Boggs, Finn E. Christensen, William W. Craig, Eric V. Gotthelf, Brian W. Grefenstette, Charles J. Hailey, Fiona A. Harrison, Jamie A. Kennea, Kristin K. Madsen, Michael J. Pivovaroff, Daniel Stern, William W. Zhang

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29 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report on new broad band spectral and temporal observations of the magnetar 1E 2259+586, which is located in the supernova remnant CTB 109. Our data were obtained simultaneously with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Swift, and cover the energy range from 0.5-79 keV. We present pulse profiles in various energy bands and compare them to previous RXTE results. The NuSTAR data show pulsations above 20 keV for the first time and we report evidence that one of the pulses in the double-peaked pulse profile shifts position with energy. The pulsed fraction of the magnetar is shown to increase strongly with energy. Our spectral analysis reveals that the soft X-ray spectrum is well characterized by an absorbed double blackbody or blackbody plus power-law model in agreement with previous reports. Our new hard X-ray data, however, suggest that an additional component, such as a power law, is needed to describe the NuSTAR and Swift spectrum. We also fit the data with the recently developed coronal outflow model by Beloborodov for hard X-ray emission from magnetars. The outflow from a ring on the magnetar surface is statistically preferred over outflow from a polar cap.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number75
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume789
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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